Tree

This is our family Christmas tree circa 1969. This was a magic tree, every so often a small surprise or gift would suddenly appear on the tree, a clear sign that Santa's snitches elves were nearby and continuing in their observational duties. I'm happy to report that many incarnations later, the Christmas tree in our house continues to have this strange magical property. I'm also happy to report that some of the ornaments you see on this tree have survived into the 21st century and continue their yearly service of brightening up our current tree, and our holiday spirit.

What's Up?

So here's a mystery shot. Presumably a quiet Montréal street, probably the early 1960s. I'm not sure what prompted dad to take this shot, or what attracted him to this location.
Perhaps it was the two people in the tree.

The Planes! The Planes!

From a plane-spotting trip to Dorval Airport, here's a row of Air Canada DC-9s ready to go...somewhere.

The jet in the foreground, fin #740, is almost brand new in this photo, having been delivered in Air Canada in March, 1969. It stayed in service with Air Canada until 1998, then served a south-east Asian airline before being scrapped in 2006.

Relic of a Lost Age

Don't see these anymore, do you?

Benched

Dad appears to be bored with taking self-portraits.

Mystery Girl

Dad took this picture, but it's a complete mystery. Who, when, where? Dunno.

Then and Now: Dorchester....?

Here's a vintage shot from 1970. The odd thing is that Dad records this picture as being along Dorchester Avenue. However, the next corner is Rue Cheneville, followed by Rue Jeanne Mance, but Dorchester Avenue runs nowhere near Cheneville and Jeanne Mance. It's a puzzler.
The answer is that the name of this middle part of Dorchester Avenue, which my dad photographed in 1970, was changed in 1987 to Boulevard René Lévesque. The ends of the street maintain the Dorchester name; one end is now Boulevard Dorchester, the other end is Rue Dorchester. Here's the street today. It also appears that Rue Cheneville has been shortened and no longer intersects Boulevard René Lévesque.

Fire and Ice on Draper

Putting out fires in the winter can't be any fun. I'm not entirely sure what is on fire here; the smoke seems to be coming from in front of the house. Has a car gone up? Or have the firemen pulled a mattress or a piece of burning furniture into the front yard? What isn't a mystery is where this shot is taken. A hunch and a little Google Map sleuthing leads me to believe that we are in the 4500-block of Draper looking towards Terrebonne. My family lived on Draper in the 50s and I'm pretty sure that the big building in the background is Willingdon School. My sisters both spent their elementary school careers at Willingdon. So did William Shatner. I started at Willingdon and ended up somewhere else, but that is, of course, another story.

Double-Play

Another one of dad's old-school double exposure trick shots.

Three For the Price of One

My dad is up to his old tricks with this one, a double-exposure. Or rather a triple exposure. He doesn't quite get it right, as one hand on the right-hand figure can be seen through the dress of the middle figure.

Then and Now: The Hat

Here's a picture that Dad took of me when I was around a year old. Not the best photo in a technical sense, but still interesting. Especially the hat. It looks like it doesn't fit me, like it's two sizes too big. The interesting thing is....


...the hat still doesn't fit me.

Will Spring Ever Get Here?

Some Montreal winters seemed like they would never end.